Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has decided to step down in late March or early April, soon after the Diet passes the fiscal 2001 budget, a senior member of Mori's faction in the Liberal Democratic Party said Wednesday.
LDP executives hope Mori will announce his resignation before the ruling party's convention on Tuesday and are coordinating efforts toward that goal, other LDP officials said.
In public, however, Mori continues to deny that he plans to resign.